If you've ever dreamed that change is possible,
that people really can make a difference, that there truly is
hope for our world, then please read this book. 100% of ALL profit
collected from "Making A Difference"
is being donated to the Padua Charitable Fund.Click
to purchase!

Urban poverty is a serious global problem. There are 1 billion
people living in slums all over the world. In the Philippines,
this problem is paramount and urgent. We can all do our bit and
make the Philippines and the world an even more beautiful place
to live in by helping eradicate the slums of our cities and rehousing
poor deprived families in cleaner, safer, self-reliant and happier
communities.

The PHILIPPINES... land of many
contrasts

The
Philippines is an archipelago of 7,107 tropical islands, many
of them untouched, a geographical phenomenon intricately positioned
in the western Pacific ocean in Southeast Asia.

It is a land of many contrasts.....Paradise-like verdant fertile
islands, endless miles of stunning white beaches, clear turquoise
seas endowed with the world's richest marine and coral life, dazzling
hills and mountains, stretches of dense virgin rainforests as
well as treacherous volcanoes and periodic typhoons ravaging homes
and agricultural life.

A young thriving republic gaining independence in 1898 after
nearly 400 years of Spanish colonialisation, the Republic of the
Philippines, attracting foreign elements mainly because of its
ideal geographical position and wealth in natural resources, further
endured many years of colonial rule and subjugation, disrupting
the smooth continuity of governance and of growth and life in
general.. This, coupled with a fragmented geography resulting
in a clannish or regional mentality, led the country to struggle
even more in attaining national unity and social-economic progress.

It is also a land of extreme wealth and extreme poverty. With
a current population of over 80 million, the Philippines' problems
have been exacerbated by the lure of people to the cities where
a "slum" culture is quickly established, people finding
themselves entrenched in a vicious poverty trap of no decent homes,
no employment, inadequate education, no choice or movement in
the social scale.

It is indeed ironic that this blessed land of natural bounty
and beauty, of smiles and laughter, and of warm, generous, hospitable,
hardworking and enduring people, should be unjustly besieged by
poverty beyond belief.